As Elmwood Place speeders prepare to get a refund on their robo-camera tickets, drivers in another part of the Tri-state say they want the plug pulled on other jurisdictions' cameras. One family received five tickets from the New Miami traffic cameras in just one day.

Not only have they been shut down for good by Judge Robert Ruehlman, but he’s ordered them to be hauled off the street and impounded.

Both sides in the contentious legal battle over the speed cameras were back before Ruehlman for a contempt hearing Thursday, where the judge ruled that Elmwood Place and the speed camera contractor Optotraffic were in contempt of court.

Back in March, Ruehlman found the speed cameras unconstitutional. He essentially ordered the cameras shut down, the speed camera ticketing program shut down, and ordered that the outstanding tickets did not have to be paid.

On Thursday, Ruehlman found that his order was violated in several ways. First, the cameras were turned back on, although Elmwood Place Police Chief Bill Peskin testified that they were only used to collect speed and traffic data -- not to collect license plate information or issue new tickets.

Peskin also testified that he told people that they did not have to pay their tickets when they came to the police station.

“Many people did show up, trying to pay their citation to us,” Peskin said, “and we told them that the program was to be suspended and they didn’t have to pay the citation.”

But tickets were never meant to be paid to the village. The traffic camera company collected the citations, and apparently continued to collect money sent in after the judge’s March order.

There was testimony in court that some $48,000 was collected, with a percentage of that money passed on to the village per the speed camera contract. Optotraffic did not have a representative in court Thursday.

Attorney Mike Allen, who is part of the team fighting the speed cameras, called the cameras a “money grab.”

“This offends me as a citizen, it offends me as a lawyer, it offends me on behalf of my clients,” said Allen.

To make sure his order was not violated further, Ruehlman ordered the Hamilton County Sheriff to seize the traffic cameras and all equipment that is part of the program and store it at the village’s expense. The equipment will be released when the $48,000 in improperly collected ticket money is returned.

Another victory in court for the lawyers fighting the cameras came when the topic moved to a class action lawsuit. The judge allowed the lawyers to move forward with a class action suit that Mike Allen says would involve anyone who was given a ticket by the speed cameras back to the first day of operations in Elmwood Place.

“We’re going to do everything in our power to get some money back in those people’s pockets because it’s just not right,” Allen said.

The class action suit could take quite a bit of time to move through the courts. Hearings were scheduled out several months from now during today’s hearing.

But with the Ohio House approving a ban on speed cameras earlier this week, Allen says, “I think the days of speed cameras in the village of Elmwood and in the state of Ohio are numbered.”

ANOTHER ELMWOOD PLACE RULING.. BY JUDGE RUHLEMAN. A LOSS.. FOR THE VILLAGE... A WIN IF YOU WERE ISSUED A TICKET BY ONE OF THEIR SPEED CAMERAS. A JUDGE HAS FOUND ELMWOOD PLACE AND THE CAMERA COMPANY IN CONTEMPT. AND A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BE GETTING THEIR MONEY BACK. WLWT NEWS FIVE'S ANDREW SETTERS HAS MORE: (Andrew Setters) ("The speed cameras themselves should be going fast in Elmwood Place. These cameras were ordered to be seized by Judge Robert Ruehlman - and taken off the streets.") BACK IN MARCH THE JUDGE RULED THE SPEED CAMERAS UNCONSTITUTIONAL. HE ORDERED THE CAMERAS SHUT DOWN, THE PROGRAM SHUT DOWN AND SAID- PEOPLE DON'T HAVE TO PAY THEIR TICKETS. (Bill Peskin, Chief, Elmwood Place Police) ("Many people did show up, trying to pay their citation to us, and we told them that the program was to be suspended and they didn't have to pay the citation.") POLICE CHIEF BILL PESKIN SAID HE LET PEOPLE KNOW THEY WERE OFF THE HOOK. (Bill Peskin, Chief, Elmwood Place Police) ("I told them they couldn't even pay it if they tried.") BUT PEOPLE CONTINUED TO SEND MONEY TO THE COMPANY WHICH OWNS THE CAMERAS---OPTOTR AFFIC. SOME 48-THOUSAND ROLLED IN AFTER THE JUDGE'S RULING. AND WHILE NO NEW TICKETS WERE ISSUED AFTER MARCH, THE CAMERAS WERE TURNED BACK ON - COLLECTING DATA ON SPEEDING AND TRAFFIC. AS WLWT-DOT-COM WAS FIRST TO REPORT THIS MORNING... THE JUDGE FOUND THAT VIOLATED HIS ORDER TOO. (Mike Allen, attorney fighting speed cameras) ("This whole scheme that Elmwood and Optotraffic cooked up has been held unconstitutional.") ATTORNEY MIKE ALLEN CALLED THE SPEED CAMERAS NOTHING MORE THAN A MONEY GRAB. (Mike Allen, attorney fighting speed cameras) ("This offends me as a citizen, it offends me as a lawyer, it offends me on behalf of my clients. We're going to do everything in our power to get some money back in those people's pockets because it's just not right.") TO MAKE SURE NO ONE VIOLATES THE RULES AGAIN, THE JUDGE ORDERED THE CAMERAS TO BE SEIZED BY THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE, AND STORED AT THE VILLAGE'S EXPENSE - UNTIL THE 48 GRAND IS RETURNED. (Andrew Setters) ("Mike Allen says the village and the traffic company that operates these cameras collected about 1.6 million dollars going back to day one when they were installed here in Elmwood Place. And another victory for Allen today - the attorneys get to move forward with their efforts at a class action lawsuit to try to get all that money - back to day one - returned. From Elmwood Place, Andrew Setters, Wlwt News Five.") THE DAYS MAY BE NUMBERED FOR SPEED CAMERAS ALL ACROSS THE STATE OF OHIO. THE OHIO HOUSE THIS WEEK PASSED A BILL BANNING THEM. IT MOVES ON TO THE STATE SENATE NOW.

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